April 2008 National Small Business Trends

Small business hiring rose in April and ended the month up 0.12%.

The SurePayroll Hiring Index ended the month at 11,003, a 13-point increase from March.

On a national basis, this was our 17th straight month of increased hiring in the small business economy, and this is the highest the Hiring Index has been since its inception in January 2004.

However, the pace of growth has slowed over the last three months. Small businesses are still growing but they are growing less. If this trend continues, it may be just a matter of time before we see the average small business size decrease, which would negatively impact employment levels across the country.

The SurePayroll Pay Index was 1,060 at the end of April, exactly where it stood at the end of March. However, when we look at the decimals, there was a very slight decline.

We have now had three consecutive months of declining small business salaries, although the pace of these declines has been slowing.

The monthly SurePayroll Scorecard data for April 2008 can be found in the table below.

About the Scorecard
The SurePayroll Hiring Index and the SurePayroll Pay Index are generated as part of SurePayroll's Small Business Scorecard, an economic indicator that tracks the health of the U.S. small business economy. The Small Business Scorecard is generated from actual payroll data — paychecks issued to contractors and employees — for over 18,000 small businesses nationwide.

Questions regarding the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard can be directed to Michael Alter. Michael can be reached at malter@surepayroll.com or by phone at (847) 676-8420 ext. 7229.

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